The entirety of yesterday was spent fetching the 172SP from Key West. Myself and another guy flew the school’s Cessna 150 down to EYW to pick it up. We both soloed back to our home airport. I left about 2 hours before he did, but only got in about 45 minutes before him. I had a headwind and took a less direct route so as to minimize distance over the water. Also, the C-150 isn’t IFR capable, so I was required to stay VFR, whereas the 172 pilot filed IFR.
I did build more Cessna 150 time during the trip through, 7.2 hours all together. Now, I am not under any illusions that airline recruiters care much about Cessna 150 time, because they don’t. The only reason I think it is sort of neat is because it is a new airplane to me. My first time ever piloting a Cessna 150 was less than a week ago, but I’ve flown that little bastard 18.8 hours since then.
As far as the skyhawk, the ring gear is going to be replaced tomorrow morning, along with a 100 hour inspection. The Mode C unit is inop as well and the local radar equipped towers are starting to hate me. Hopefully, that will be fixed soon. After that, a good bath, and she’ll be poised and ready for more student abuse.
My affection for the little 150 has increased quite a bit since my first flight in it. I feel 100% comfortable in it now and think of it as a viable alternative to the workhorse 172. When I first heard that we were getting a 150 on leaseback, I wasn’t very excited about it. But it does its job well. Whenever I am requested to fly it, I will do so without complaints.
However, now that the 172 is back on the line, I will undoubtedly do 70-80% of my student training in it and look forward to jumping back into it.